Cordoba Solista CD, Nylon String Acoustic Guitar - Cedar Reviews

This guitar is something else. Solista means soloist in Spanish (fairly obvious), so it is no surprise that this guitar shines playing solo pieces like Tarrega, Sor, Coste, etc. For the price, it has exceeded my expectations. This guitar has the larger body style I prefer, and being hand-made in Spain adds a special feeling to playing the guitar. This is a full size concert style guitar. It is very loud and warm compared to other guitars I have played in the same price range. Classical guitar is one of my hobbies, so I am not a professional, nor do i perform in public. I have played and been around people playing high end luthier guitars and if i didn't say anything,, this guitar would fit in with most of them as far as tone and appearance.

After a week or so, I switched the Savarez hard tension strings for D'Addario Titanium Trebles in normal tension and the guitar sounds a bit more dynamic, but not as loud and stable. I would suggest experimenting with various strings and tensions before settling on a certain set as I have found different strings have various effects depending on the guitar itself. I would definitely recommend this guitar to anyone looking to play advanced level pieces, but not someone who performs professionally. A student would be a good fit for this guitar, but I would recommend light tension strings until you are used to the higher action and strength required to play a full size concert guitar. The included hard tension strings could be a bit much for even advanced players, especially those with smaller hands.

The cedar top and neck combined with the rosewood back and sides creates a very warm tone, and the cordoba fan bracing pattern allows the guitar to project when you play hard, but still resonates when playing softly. The build quality is decent, though it does have a small run in the paint on the side of the fretboard, but it is hardly noticeable. Overall, very impressive.

Decent intermediate classical guitar, Plays easy enough and well built. Sound is very average and rather dull, None of the notes jump out on any registers (bass or treble). Maybe I got a dud, but I have played guitars half this price that blow it out of the water. Your mileage may vary

At first I was super worried that I had blown my money, but after the guitar acclimated to my house and I acclimated to the guitar, it really started to sing. The only thing I think I would ask for to make this guitar even better would be a nitro finish, but hey.. I can't have everything. Intonation is decent, and I haven't even had it set up properly yet. For the money, I think this is a fantastic guitar. Quite a bargain for the tone woods and craftsmanship.

Sweetwater customer service was excellent. The guitar sounds good but not amazing. I have had the opportunity to play the Cordoba C10, C12, and now the Solista.

The biggest bang for your buck is the C10 and the best sounding one is the C12. The Solista sounds better than the C10 but barely. With the price difference between the C10 and Solista, one would imagine that the Solista would pack a warmer, stronger sound than the C10 but it does not.

Had I played all guitars together at one time and had enough money, I would have purchased the C12. If I was on a budget, I would have purchased the C10.

I did not want to return the guitar because I have built a connection with it after playing it a few weeks. Overall, I am happy with it.

I knew I had something in the store when the strings felt too loose. It took two days to get used to it, then major sounds coming out from barely touching the strings

For those who can afford the price, it is hand made, I recommend this as a fabulous starter classical nylon string. Easy to play and beautiful to look at. And for a small body guitar it has an incredible sound that fills a room.

The thing I look for in a possible purchase, is the craftsmanship of the construction. This I find is most easily determined in the finger board. The setting of the frets and action height of the strings, give a good measure of the craftsman's skill. The fingerboard is fabulous.

The fret height uniformity is excellent and all played clean with no buzzing at any position. The action is set well with the nut and saddle heights making it easy to play Barr cords up to the seventh fret witha, rather, light pressure. And further up, with just a little additional pressure.

Close inspection of the frets showed all were set parallel to the "flat" fingerboard. The ends were finished properly to the edge of the neck and fingerboard, and the filed angle of the ends is perfect for play and comfort. Again showing the skill and time spent by the builder of this guitar.

The intonation is the second measure. This guitar has its sadle set exactly for proper intonation. Showing again the skill of the craftsman.

These points give confidence that the rest of the construction is sound and will give the expected value for the cost of the instrument.

Of course the sound is most greatly influenced by the tone woods. Here, the choices, Canadian Cedar and Indian Rosewood, give incredible sound and projection. As expected. This guitar pushes a very stong bass, making it a great finger style instrument.

Córdoba Craftsmanship, Materials , and Sound... all produced a fabulous guitar.

Final note: I made the trek to Sweetwater to see the store/headquarters in person, and chose this guitar after playing it and several others over the span of three hours. I recommend, if you can find the time and the distance of travel is not too great... to put it on your bucket list.

This a a very beautiful guitar which sound great.

I received this classical guitar yesterday, it was packaged very well by Sweetwater. Once I got to the guitar case and removed it out of it's second box, I was quite excited to see my new guitar. This case is excellent for the purpose I would use it for, which is for storage and to protect my guitar from humidity change. The case has a built in humidifier sponge which is simple to use and comes with simple instructions which will get you started using the feature in the case.

The guitar I received is a very quality instrument, practically flawless aesthetically from my eager inspection of my Solista. Very light but not cheap feeling, feels substantial in my hands, the action is very nicely set up, plays easily, and the tension of the strings are just right for my liking. The back of the neck feels very solid and smooth and the dimensions of the neck felt different to me since I play mainly the electric guitar. The neck wasn't to wide and it felt natural when I was playing warm up scales.
Also the neck can be adjusted with the truss rod located inside the guitar sound hole.

The sound to me is great, i'm not a classical musician but it's very balanced. The lower register has a nice full sound, very rich, defined, but not punchy and overpowering. The middle register is warm, slightly bright, not quite neutral or flat. it transitions well to the upper register and overall very cohesive in sound. The upper register is full and not thin in sound, it is sweet and very articulate. I enjoy this guitar very much since I have had it which has been about a day. The intonation is spot on across the entire neck.

My only complaint are the tuning pegs, they're not the best I've had experience with. I tend to tune my guitar quite a bit, new strings stretch and my guitar would go sharp quite a bit. Might just be me though, I will play a note and look at my guitar tuner to see if the note I have fretted is in pitch and I would adjust accordingly until the guitar had the tone and resonance I wanted and also proper pitch. My fretting technique needs work I still go sharp when playing scales but it's just slightly out of pitch.

Overall i'm very satisfied with my Solista, nice and balanced instrument. The smell of cedar is quite nice too, this guitar will only get better and the cedar top is gorgeous, the sides and back are as equally striking. I'm not an expert on the bracing used in classical guitars but I like the craftsmanship and would recommend this guitar for any level player. This guitar is all solid wood construction as well. I love premium tone woods, exotic as well. That's always been a factor to me when buying a guitar. Every wood has it's on unique resonance and tone and luthiers tend to match different tone woods to create excellent guitars with sought after wood with equally good sonic tonal qualities.

This is not my first classical guitar, I once owned a Kremona FC Fiesta. It's a good guitar as well, but I like the Solista better. Kremona makes handcrafted classical guitars in Bulgaria and I don't think their quality control is as good as Cordoba. Keep in mind the Fiesta is a $1,000 dollars cheaper. The cedar used was different as well, the Fiesta's cedar smelled sweeter, and the bass was more punchy and tad bit over powering. The Fiesta had better tuning machines though. Also the fret board was rosewood, ebony feels much better and plays smoother.

The Solista is a very nice instrument, it's not master luthier crafted quality but I must say that i'm impressed and well appreciative of the labor they put into making a fine instrument at this price point.

Thank you sweetwater for being the best at what you all do!

If you are looking for a high quality classical guitar with very nice tone, solid top and solid rosewood back and sides in the $1500-$2000 price range, then the Cordoba Solista is very worthy of consideration.

The basses and trebles are very evenly balanced, very good note separation, nice warm Spanish tone and superb intonation all over the fretboard. The Solista competes very well with other well known Luthier-made guitars I have in the collection that are in the $2500-$4500 range.

I've had a hard time putting the guitar down for the past week :-)

The included Humicase is very solid and high quality with built-in climate control, its better than the original cases I received with my past Luthier commissioned guitars.

Not knowing much about Cordoba guitars, but having heard one played while kayaking one morning, I looked online for one. The one I had heard was not the one I ended up with however. Taking a chance by ordering the solista I was not disappointed. The instrument is a pleasure to play and to see. I have a very nice Martin and a sweet LaPlant. The Cordoba Solista is just what I wanted to complete my setup!

I did a great deal of research trying to find a quality instrument at an affordable price. My goal was to find a classical guitar that was as traditional as possible but also very playable for a moderate price. The Cordoba Solista seemed to fit this description so I ordered this gem from Sweetwater without every playing one, and I am glad I did.

Opening the case a strong scent of cedar hits your nose, the instrument is beautifully crafted, and the attention to detail is very clear. When I first held the guitar it "sang" as I spoke, vibrating from just my voice - this guitar has a wonderful tone and projected sound. The intonation is perfect all the way up the fret board on every string (verified via tuner in E standard, A = 440).

My only complaint/observation is that this guitar does not come set up very well. This is obviously personal preference. Out of the box it sounds great, but the action is set extremely high. I took the guitar straight to my luthier after (after 2 hours of playing) and he made the appropriate adjustments to the nut and bridge to bring the instrument more into classical specs (lowered action by 41%). This is not really a complaint, all instruments should be taken to a trained luthier for inspection and proper setup when purchased.

I intended this instrument to be a bridge guitar until I can afford a 100% hand built classical guitar, but after playing this beauty for about a month - all I can say is wow... she will always be in my collection. I cannot put this guitar down. Wonderful instrument - nice job Cordoba.

I highly recommend this instrument to any one looking for a great classical guitar at an affordable price. Very pleased with my purchase!!! Thanks Sweetwater.